There’s something attractive in the party names in the Supreme Court’s decision on the relationship between government and religion: American Legion v. American Humanist Association. Both organizations, the veterans group formed after World War I and the secular humanist group founded the year this nation entered World War II, want…
ACLU Op-ed: ICE Oppressing Immigrant Religion
One pork sandwich every eight hours for six straight days. That’s the only food that Border Patrol provided to Adnan Asif Parveen, a Muslim immigrant who was detained in South Texas in January because his work permit had expired and was pending renewal. Mr. Parveen reportedly informed officials that his…
Christians Win Again in the Supreme Court
This week, the Supreme Court ruled 7-2 that the 40-foot tall Bladensburg Peace Cross can remain on public land, in the middle of a busy intersection. The cross is owned and maintained by the State of Maryland. The Court reversed the Fourth Circuit’s decision that the display was an unconstitutional…
States urge Supreme Court to extend rights to gay workers
The U.S. Supreme Court Building stands in Washington, D.C. (Bloomberg file photo) Almost two dozen states, including Minnesota, are urging the U.S. Supreme Court to extend a decades-old workplace discrimination law to cover gay and transgender employees, who can be fired for no reason in many parts of the country.…
Kelly Shackelford: Supreme Court will no longer tolerate government hostility to religious beliefs
The end of the Supreme Court’s recent term marks the beginning of a new era for religious liberty in America. With a landmark 7-2 decision in the case of The American Legion v. The American Humanist Association – combined with the decision by the court in Klein v. Oregon Bureau…
A Sack Full of Sacrament
A Southern California lawyer and church leader has filed a lawsuit against the county of Humboldt and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, alleging they violated his client’s rights to religious freedom when they raided a cannabis grow and eradicated five greenhouse’s worth of weed last month. In the…
How Your Religious Liberty Works Both Ways
There has been much debate about religious liberty lately. On one side, evangelical Christians argue that their faith is under attack from those attempting to reduce their influence in culture. On the other side, proponents of church-state separation contend that some Christians breech the wall of separation as they seek…
SCOTUS to hear Montana case on school choice, religious liberty
Kendra Espinoza, a Montana mom, is a plantiff in a Montana school choice case that will be heard before the U.S. Supreme Court. Espinoza is represented by the Institute for Justice. The U.S. Supreme Court will hear a wide-reaching Montana case dealing with school choice and the First Amendment. The…
Opinion: The lemon is squeezed dry
BARONE There’s something attractive in the party names in the Supreme Court’s decision on the relationship between government and religion: American Legion v. American Humanist Association. Both organizations, the veterans group formed after World War I and the secular humanist group founded the year this nation entered World War II,…
Lawsuit challenging exclusion of religious schools from town tuitioning program headed to higher court
On Wednesday, June 26, United States District Court Judge D. Brock Hornby issued a ruling that upheld a current law that prohibits state funds from being used as tuition to fund a child’s education at a religious secondary school through Maine’s school choice program. However, Judge Hornby himself acknowledged the…
Court upholds ruling against unvaccinated NKY student in chickenpox case
UNION, Ky. (FOX19) – The Kentucky Court of Appeals ruled Wednesday on the case of the northern Kentucky Catholic high school student who sued the Northern Kentucky Health Department over their decision to keep unvaccinated students out of school and sporting events amid a chickenpox outbreak. The health department banned…
SCOTUS to hear Montana case on school choice, religious liberty
Kendra Espinoza, a Montana mom, is a plantiff in a Montana school choice case that will be heard before the U.S. Supreme Court. Espinoza is represented by the Institute for Justice. The U.S. Supreme Court will hear a wide-reaching Montana case dealing with school choice and the First Amendment. The…
Atheist Group Forces Removal of Ten Commandments Plaque from Ohio Middle School
A Ten Commandments plaque dating back to the 1920’s has been removed from an Ohio middle school after complaints from an atheist organization. The plaque had been on display for 92 years at Welty Middle School in New Philadelphia until a concerned parent reportedly complained about it. The parent contacted…
Supreme Court orders lower court to rehear Bayview Park cross lawsuit
Pensacola’s Bayview Park cross lawsuit is going back to court. The Supreme Court has vacated previous rulings in the case that the cross violates the separation of church and state and has ordered the U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals to rehear the case in light of the high court’s…
American Legion v. American Humanist Association
A pillar of the contemporary conservative movement is hostility to the separation of church and state. For much of the movement, it’s not just that church and state should be tight partners but also that the United States is and should be a Christian country. Their aims have been achieved…
Christian florist who refused to work gay wedding loses again in Washington court
Barronelle Stutzman, owner of Arlene’s Flowers in Richland, Washington, is seen here in her shop. The Washington Supreme Court has again ruled against Christian grandma florist Barronelle Stutzman who faces the risk of crippling fines for refusing to create floral arrangements for a same-sex wedding. The state’s highest court unanimously…
Are you for Israel Folau or against? We love a simple answer but this is not a binary case
Are you for Israel Folau or against? What a pity that Folau’s dismissal by Rugby Australia should be reduced to an ideological and binary debate. Of course, we love a simple answer. Twitter views are various: the Folau case is exclusively a matter of contract law; Folau has the rights…
Establishment Clause and Constitutional Protection of Religious Monuments
Peace Cross 1. The Establishment Clause of the First Amendment On June 20, 2019, the United States Supreme Court ruled in the case of The American Legion vs. American Humanist Association that keeping a Peace Cross on public land does not violate the Establishment Clause of the US Constitution. The…
Under Siege Again: Transgender Sues Colorado Baker
You’d think the moral bullies would leave Jack Phillips alone. The Colorado baker had declined to make a cake for a same-sex wedding due to his religious beliefs, and gay activists went after him. They pulled in the Colorado’s Civil Rights Commission. Now’s he’s back under fire. Even after his…
Supreme Court Orders Lower Court to Reconsider Ruling Against Florida Cross Memorial
Photo provided by Becket The U.S. Supreme Court issued yet another (potential) victory this month for a cross memorial—this time in Pensacola, Florida. In a decision Friday, the high court vacated previous lower court rulings arguing the historic World War II-era cross in Bayview Park violates the separation of church…
US Supreme Court Orders Lower Court to Revisit Florida Cross Ruling Following Decision Upholding Maryland Cross
Photo Credit: Freedom From Religion Foundation WASHINGTON — The U.S. Supreme Court has vacated a lower court ruling finding a Florida cross monument unconstitutional and has instructed the court to review the case in light of its other ruling last week upholding a similar cross display. “The judgment is vacated,…
Supreme Court Will Hear Key School Choice Case Challenging Ban on Religious Schools Participating in Montana Tax-Credit Scholarship Program
The Supreme Court will hear a key school choice case challenging a state ban on using tax-credit scholarships at religious schools, justices announced Friday. The Montana Supreme Court ruled in December that the state’s tax-credit scholarship plan violated a provision in the state constitution barring public funding for religious education.…
U.S. top court to review Montana dispute over religious school subsidies
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – In a case that could once again test boundaries for the separation of church and state, the U.S. Supreme Court on Friday agreed to decide the legality of a Montana state tax credit that could help students attend private schools including religious ones. A man stands outside…
Could ruling on cross curb hostility toward religion?
WASHINGTON (BP) — The U.S. Supreme Court’s 7-2 decision June 20 in favor of a nearly century-old memorial cross in Bladensburg, Md., appeared to some as a signal that the justices want to leave more room for religion in the public square. First Liberty photo The American Humanist Association sued…
Supreme Court Rejects Lower Court Ruling that Struck Down WWII Cross Memorial in FL
The U.S. Supreme Court issued yet another (potential) victory this month for a cross memorial—this time in Pensacola, Florida. In a decision Friday, the high court vacated previous lower court rulings arguing the historic World War II-era cross in Bayview Park violates the separation of church and state, according to…